Finland monitoring measles situation after 5th case reported

Health officials in Finland have reported the fifth measles case from the eastern part of the country this summer, according to a local media account. The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) says the most recent case reported from the Savonlinna region is the same strain as the previous cases.

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“But this is still good news, because it means no new virus types have appeared in the region,” says Mirkaleena Erkkilä from the Eastern Savo health care district. “We’ll monitor the situation until mid-August.”

The cases began in June with an imported case from Italy. Italy has reported more than 4,000 measles cases in 2017 to date.

Europe as a whole has been experiencing a measles outbreak and 40 people have died from the infection since 2016. . All EU/EEA countries have reported measles cases this year, except for Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta and Norway, according to the ECDC.

MMR vaccination coverage should be over 95 percent of the population. Currently, the coverage remains under 95 percent for 61 health centres in Finland.